‘We’re trying to survive’: As Texas reopens, Dallas business owners, customers test new social rulesThis article has comments enabled.

In the first phase of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to reopen Texas, some businesses were allowed to open Friday at 25% capacity. Not all did.

A server brings food out to the outside patio of Beto & Son at Trinity Groves on Friday in Dallas. Tables were spread out as restaurants are allowed to seat up to 25% of their total listed occupancy.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)

Updated at 8:30 p.m.: Revised throughout to include additional details.

North Texans cautiously emerged from their homes Friday, seeking a semblance of normalcy at restaurants, golf courses — even the gun range — as Texas allowed its first wave of businesses to reopen after they were shuttered to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

In Dallas, shoppers and diners treaded carefully after more than a month under stay-at-home orders. Business owners and workers saw quiet days for their shops as many people stayed home. Some wondered whether Texas was lifting restrictions too soon. Others reveled in a glimmer of what life looked like before the virus took hold.

In the first phase of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to reopen Texas, some businesses — such as stores, restaurants and movie theaters — were allowed to open Friday at 25% capacity. Not all did.

If the state doesn’t see a spike in coronavirus cases by May 18, a little over two weeks from now, Abbott could allow businesses to expand their capacity, and salons and gyms may be allowed to reopen in the state’s second phase.

Venturing out with caution

Robert Coggins, 71, was one of the first customers to return to his "usual breakfast place” — Lucky’s Cafe in Oak Lawn. He forgot his mask at home Friday morning, but went back to retrieve it before his meal.

At Lucky’s, there were fewer tables, naked per the governor’s guidelines. The rolled silverware customers usually grabbed on the way in were gone. So were condiments that once took up too much space on the tables. The menus were printed on paper, disposed of after a single use.

No more than a dozen people filled in seats and booths. Some wore their masks around their necks while they ate.

“I thought there would be more people,” said Coggins, a hairdresser who has been out of work for nearly seven weeks. “I think they did a good job with the layout. I feel safe.”

In Pleasant Grove, Latrice Skinner was one of several customers Friday morning at Stereo Express on South Buckner Boulevard.

Skinner said she supported the governor’s decision to slowly reopen businesses. She would rather just “keep living,” she said, than to stay home indefinitely.

“It’s bad. Ain’t ever been in a situation like this,” Skinner said, lowering her mask on her face as she spoke. “How can they tell us when this is over and it’s OK, when they don’t even know what’s going on?”

Owner Mike Shawar walks out of his business to tend to customers, including Tiffany Reed (right), at the Stereo Express on South Buckner Boulevard in South Dallas on Friday, May 1, 2020. The stereo store opened up again Friday morning after the state order against certain nonessential businesses operating during the COVID-19 pandemic was lifted.(Lynda M. Gonzalez / Staff Photographer)

Later in the day, at El Ranchito Tortas y Tacos in the White Rock neighborhood, customers steadily came by for takeout. Nearly all used face masks. No one sat inside.

Bilingual signs like this one papered the door: “No mascarilla, no servicio.”

Hospital worker Angela Skidmore, wearing a mask, walked out with several orders of hot fragrant tacos — a treat for her coworkers.

“We are being very cautious because of the industry we are in,” Skidmore said.

Others weren’t ready to venture out.

Bonnie Canelakes of Dallas has kept her distance from others since late February. When she saw how rapidly cases were growing in China, she thought "there was no way it wasn't coming here," she said.

Being immune-suppressed, she's not ready to spend time in public.

Plus, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is her "hero," said Canelakes, 63.

"I go by what he thinks," she said. "And I know that he is hesitant to be reopening."

John Gallagher, 49, doesn’t want to see Texas follow Georgia, which reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases Friday after its governor allowed many businesses — including salons and gyms — to reopen a week ago.

He said his family saw the “writing on the wall” and isolated themselves even before local orders required them to stay home, though he has continued to work.

They’re stir-crazy, he said, but they’re not ready to return to normal life.

“I live downtown,” Gallagher added. “I see people starting to relax, and it’s going to be a bad move.”

‘Almost not worth it’

Some shops given the green light to welcome customers inside again weren’t ready to open their doors Friday.

On bustling Jefferson Boulevard in north Oak Cliff, Patricia Martinez, a 42-year-old seamstress, worked in the back of Celebración Bridal sewing protective masks and altering dresses.

The shop is open, but customers weren’t allowed inside. Not yet. Instead, Martinez’s boss asked customers to call ahead so dresses or other purchases could be brought outside to their cars.

Working limited hours so far, Martinez said she nonetheless wished the reopening was halted or slowed down. It may hurt some people financially, she added, but going slower is best for everyone in the long run.

“Yes, I know we can open at 25% capacity, but it doesn’t feel right. Maybe once there’s a vaccine or there are less cases it would be good,” Martinez said. “We’re seeing more and more cases right as they say we can reopen. It’s a bad time, I think.”

Owner Matt Tobin poses for a portrait outside of Goodfriend Beer Garden & Burger House in East Dallas on Friday, May 1, 2020. Tobin said his businesses will remain take-out only for the time being, regardless of the state allowing restaurant businesses to reopen to dine-in customers under certain parameters. (Lynda M. Gonzalez / Staff Photographer)

Goodfriend Beer Garden & Burger House — which has rebranded as Good Citizen during the pandemic — in the White Rock neighborhood wasn’t ready to offer dine-in service Friday. It offered only takeout.

A partial opening is “almost not worth it,” said co-owner Matt Tobin. Tobin talked to his staff about opening Friday, and “95% are uncomfortable coming to work,” he said.

Tobin, his partner and their spouses also thought it was too soon.

“My concern is that this has all become political, and it’s gross,” he said.

Sighing, the tattooed entrepreneur said, “What the government is allowing us to do is not driving our decision to reopen.”

Other businesses across Dallas saw a sleepy Friday, with relatively few visitors.

Maribel Marure, who works in northwest Dallas selling religious figurines and candles at her shop, poses for a photo Friday.(Imelda García)

The Harry Hines Bazaar and Plaza Latina, two northwest Dallas bazaars popular among the city’s Hispanic community, were practically empty.

Maribel Marure, who works in a store selling candles and religious figurines, blamed fear for the empty hallways.

She feels it herself, even though she’s happy to return to work after two months without a job.

"I feel fearful because this virus does not stop,” she said. “I believe that people are afraid, and therefore it is empty. I think it will take time for this to get up.”

The first gunshot Friday rang out at 12:09 p.m., a few minutes after the range opened.

Within minutes, more than a dozen cars had pulled into spaces at the parking lot of the shooting range, and the gunfire sounded more like microwave popcorn.

But business owner Scott Robertson would’ve preferred silence.

“We're losing money like crazy," he said. “It would be cheaper for me to keep the gate closed, 100 percent."

He said restrictions on business capacity limit his revenue. Half the shooting lanes were closed, and golf carts for zipping around the facility may now only carry one person at a time. Robertson is keeping his entire staff employed with only the chance to bring in a quarter of his regular revenue, he said.

"As a business owner, I have to lose money and invest money in my people to try and keep them, so when this does turn around, I have staff left," he said.

Business at the White Rock Alehouse & Brewery in Lakewood has also taken a steep hit.

Co-owner Greg Nixon said the brewery has seen a 75% drop in sales since mid-March. Most staffers had been laid off, but federal aid helped bring back eight of their employees.

Nixon said he and co-owner Dave Kirk are nervous to see whether the slow reopening will work.

“The butterflies in my stomach were like when we opened day one,” Nixon said. “People who are out have the sense that we’re all in this together.”

Karina Boyea (center) and her sister Marley (not pictured, passenger seat) drive to a pool party held by a small group of friends in Dallas on Friday, May 1, 2020. Marley Boyea said they're not generally happy about the state reopening businesses, and have no plans to visit malls or theaters any time soon — instead, they're opting to spend time outside. (Lynda M. Gonzalez / Staff Photographer)

‘Some kind of normalcy’

Friday’s longer leash was reason enough to celebrate for Shelley Hall and Lindsay Derrick Skae. They split a bottle of champagne on the patio at CRÚ Food & Wine Bar in West Village.

The pair was the wine bar’s first table of the day.

Both work in the hospitality industry and were eager to support a fellow business.

Derrick Skae is the general manager of Lockhart Smokehouse in Arlington and Hall works for a winery.

“As long as they’re following all the rules, I feel safe,” Hall said.

Elsewhere in the city, sunshine coaxed some from their homes Friday, including 49-year-old John Gonzalez, who had hesitated before heading to Tenison Park Golf Course in Old East Dallas.

He said the state rushed to reopen the economy. But knowing that the city would only allow one golfer per cart provided him some comfort, he said.

The sunny day on the course provided much-needed relief from Gonzalez’s home after a rough few months. His mother died in February. The pandemic hit. And then he was laid off from his sales job about a month ago.

Gonzalez said a day in the sun felt “amazing” after what felt like a long, downward spiral.

“I’m glad my mom didn’t have to go through this. … You’ve got to thank God for the small mercies,” Gonzalez said. “Some kind of normalcy, that’s what we’re looking for. It doesn’t take much.”

Dana Branham, Breaking news reporter. Dana is a reporter at The Dallas Morning News covering crime and breaking news. She graduated in 2017 from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied journalism. Before coming to The News in 2018, Dana interned at the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Tulsa World.

Dianne Solis. Dianne covers immigration and social justice issues. The award-winning writer is a Wall Street Journal alum and a former foreign correspondent who was based in Mexico. She was a Nieman fellow at Harvard and holds journalism degrees from Northwestern University and Cal State University, Fresno.

Hayat Norimine, City Hall reporter. Hayat grew up in Eastern Washington on the border of Idaho and now lives in southeast Dallas with her family. She previously covered three other city halls, state politics and congressional races for Seattle Met magazine. She loves long hikes in the mountains and taking late-night phone calls about her stories.

Obed Manuel, Staff Writer. Obed has called Dallas home, Oak Cliff specifically, since 1996. Obed covers immigration, local news, politics, social justice and the issues affecting second generation Hispanic immigrants in North Texas. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton.

Nic Garcia. Nic Garcia covers Dallas County government and politics. He previously worked at The Denver Post covering the statehouse and two presidential campaigns. He also worked for Chalkbeat, a national nonprofit news organization that covers education. Garcia is a Colorado native who is excited to explore the Lone Star State.

Jesus Jimenez, Staff Writer. Jesus Jimenez began working for The Dallas Morning News in 2018. He currently covers weather and how climate affects Dallas-Fort Worth. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas.

Sam Blum, Staff Writer. Sam covers SMU athletics and the Texas Rangers for The Dallas Morning News, and previously covered Auburn University athletics for AL.com. He's also covered University of Virginia athletics for The Daily Progress in Charlottesville. He graduated from Syracuse University.

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